Media helicopters

[luoto]

Hi there...

A few curious questions really from a non helicopter "driver", if someone would be so kind as to give some rough information for general interest. I felt here was the best forum to get the nearest information.

I've been watching the British news channels from Finland and have noticed there is a lot of use of media helicopters by the BBC and Sky (I think ITN also) and of course law enforcement have some (they flew into shot a few times, a black and yellow thing like an angry bee).

Now, do the media organisations own these or just hire them like a hire car on a lease and then pay for the logo to be affixed (and presumably they get exclusive use). ?

Do they need special permission to fly from the CAA due to the levels and flight patterns, or do they fly as "regular helicopters" (permission wise) and have no special waivers due to their newsgathering role?

How long on average can they stay up in the air, and when they go and refuel does it take much time to "fill her up" and check/fill other things that might be necessary between flights?

I am presuming the pilots have flight hour restrictions so I guess there are many pilots on roster. Are they permitted to fly at night as last night there were more "dark" images but I don't recall as many helicopter pictures at the weekend.

I cannot imagine any of the questions would give "help" to the "bad guys" but, of course, welcome correction :)

If there are then the equivalent "airbus" vs "boeing" disagreements between helicopter pilots, I will respectfully watch but not take part :)

Best wishes, Luoto

[Helinut]

OK,

let me try and answer some of these.

Generally, the media does not "own" helicopters, but very occasionally they might. One or two lease them and have a long term arrangement with operators: this can include painting the name of the TV company down the side of the helicopter. This would include having contract availability as defined in the contract. In other cases, helicopters are hired on a short term one-off basis. In general, they are always operated by a commercial operator. There are one or two exceptions (probably just one) where an operator does not have the normal "operator's" certificate. In those cases, the helicopter cannot carry passengers, but must only carry people who work for the operator. I believe that in the UK no media company operates its own helicopter: they rely on professional commercial operators, one way or the other.

To get decent results you need a helicopter equipped with a special camera and stabilisation which is usually a big ball that is external to the helicopter. The stabilisation is usually provided by gyros that hold the camera steady in space and damp out vibration. In some cases, these are a permanent fit, in others they are fitted when needed.

In general, they operate to normal commercial rules, flight time etc. Many operators and especially those who who do a lot of this sort of work get exemptions from some of the normal low flying rules, enabling them to fly a bit lower than otherwise. In fact, the cameras available these days do not usually require a helicopter to fly low to get a good picture. The magnification and stability of the camera will give a good result from normal height.

In and around the "London area" there is a lot of controlled airspace, which can limit what they can do and where they can go. ATC will not let them into an area when it would conflict with airliners landing or taking-off at London's airports. There is a special case of this known as the London Control Zone. This exists basically for the benefit of Heathrow. Aircraft are restricted into this area, but again by prior arrangement "normal" operators can get special permission to operate in that zone, subject to pre-arranged individual permission for each flight.

Flight duration depends upon all sorts of things. However, full fuel on a helicopter is (very roughly) 3 hours. However, many news gathering heles would not be able to take full fuel, because they carry a lot of other stuff (cameras, camera ball, camera crew).

They can fly at night, although there are more restrictions especially for some types of helicopter. There are differences between what a single engine and twin engine are allowed to do.

The rules for police helicopters are a bit different, although the same laws of physics still apply!

Hope that helps.

[luoto]

Thank you. So maybe allowing for pilot, cameraman and weight maybe on average2h to 2h30 flight time?

Your other information was helpful and given some google tips for more reading.


In the case of filling up and needing to get back to location, is there a lot of dowtime or can you refuel in minutes whilst new pilot does preflight checks (if pilot swapped). D helicopter crews have the same flight restrictions time wise in these operations as fixed wing commercials.

The television pictures are very good. One can imagine what the authorities ca see if they wanted to give the game away.

[Helinut]

It just takes a few minutes to refuel.

The FT rules are the same as fixed wing (pretty much).

In my experience flight duration and flight time is rarely a problem for media jobs. You are only looking to get a few seconds of time to replay on the news. How many videos of burning buildings do you need? The operator gets paid by the flying hour, so the media customer won't waste flying time/money.

[luoto]

Thanks. The questions came up after seeing the same helicopter pictures seemingly live for hours at an end rather than the more usual quick snaps. Thank you for your kind answers.

[mickjoebill]

Thanks. The questions came up after seeing the same helicopter pictures seemingly live for hours at an end rather than the more usual quick snaps. Thank you for your kind answers.

With a favorable wind with the helicopter in a hover or doing slow orbits endurance is extended so three hours

However, many news gathering heles would not be able to take full fuel, because they carry a lot of other stuff (cameras, camera ball, camera crew).

To elaborate;
Japanese solved this by using larger helicopters!
Cold air helps UK operators whose electronic fit-out is relatively meagre in comparison to Japanese. Most of the time a reporter is not carried so full fuel is an option. ie just pilot, camera op, gimbal, monitors, bracket and downlink.

In Oz there is a tendency to use the craft as a taxi and take a reporter to distant news events. In my view use of aerial images in Oz suffers because of this and other factors.


A serious issue in all countries is that viewers (including emergency managers) trust that the "LIVE" on screen graphic is valid and forget that when it is not present the images may or may not be live.

Senior army commanders during Katrina aftermath have commented that they were mislead, by their own ignorance of such matters.



Mickjoebill

[JimBall]

Not unusual for an R44 ENG in good winds to stay on task for nearly 4hrs, never using more than 18" MP.
And the R44 ENG is the only news helicopter certified at birth with camera mount & very powerful directional active antenna. So, no speed restrictions and can operate 100km from receive site with no midpoint. Also important is good 2-way comms with the newsdesk whilst airborne. Normally a UHF fit.